 Top
Tips For Parties
at Home |
| It seems that
having parties for children at home is an increasingly rare phenomenon
these days. With such a vast selection of venues to choose from like
theme pubs and restaurants, play zones, sports orientated venues etc.
many parents opt to let someone else take the stress and strain and
they just have to pick up the bill at the end. But a good old-fashioned
party at home with games and party food can be great fun and more
personal and welcoming, particularly for younger children. |
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Parents Online have produced
a useful guide to the basics in "Throwing a Children's Party" which
you can find in the Archive section under Activities. Here are a
few more practical tips.
Ten Top Tips
- Think hard about how
many children you'll be able to cope with. You'll need to consider
not only how much space you have available, but also child to
responsible adult ratios.
- Make nametags for
each child - you could use decorated sticky labels. After all,
you may know the majority of your child's friends' names, but
your spouse and other helpers might not. It also helps the children
to identify non-mutual friends. Stick the labels on the guests
as they come in the door.
- Have an activity
that the children can play while you're waiting for latecomers
to arrive. This will help to settle them and keep them amused.
- Never rely on the
weather being fine if you're planning to have your party in the
garden! Make contingency plans. Remember you can always eat picnic
style indoors on blankets if you haven't the space or the chairs
to seat all the guests.
- When it comes to party
games, don't insist that children take part in all of them if
they really don't want too. Remember, they're here to enjoy themselves.
Have a box of LEGO or some jigsaws on hand for those who'd rather
not participate.
- Try and have the
frenetic games at the beginning of the party, followed by a winding
down period before they eat, and then some gentler games at the
end. Try making party crowns to settle them down before the party
food is served. It will give you a bit of free time to get the
food together while they're doing the activity, and they'll have
their own personalised party hat to wear and then take home.
Party Crowns
- Before the
party, cut some lengths of card into strips about 10 cms
wide and 60 cms long (long enough to go around the circumference
of the child's head.) You may need to staple a couple of
bits of card together to make it long enough.
- Cut out small
triangles or squares or a wavy line all along one of the
long edges.
- Before the
food comes out give each child a strip of the card and supply
a selection of coloured crayons and pens for them to decorate
the plain card.
- When they've
finished, wrap the card around their head like a crown and
staple to the required length.
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| 7.
Where party food is concerned there probably isn't too much point
slaving over a hot stove producing delicacies for small children.
Save that for the dinner parties for grown ups. Stick to fairly safe
finger foods like sausage rolls, pizzas, little sausages on sticks,
chicken nuggets, cheese and pineapple, cherry tomatoes, cucumber,
crisps, sandwiches and little cakes and biscuits. Don't make too many
sandwiches - there always seem to be tons of them left over for some
reason.
8. Wait until everyone
has finished and you've cleared away before coming in with the cake
and the candles.
9. Children these days
will definitely expect party bags, but there's no need to spend
a fortune on them.
10. Don't forget to
make a list of who gave what present and send thank you notes.
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